New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-08
ssusy tho most exquisite torture tina. 1t can suffer

equally the moot exquisite torture that 1t can suher
becomes fulfilled
He IL now the agonized victim OF love and Of re-
morse orestos pursued by the Furies WAS long ago
selected as the typical image of supreme anguish and
immgabl suffering but Orestcs IS far less q In
mentabe figure than Faust"-forfed though he Is.
and because no IS, with tho awful but malign and
rcachcrous and now impotent sovereignty OF hell To
deaden his seLsibility, destroy his conscience and
harden him I'm evil, the Flend leads him into a mad
roee Of boundless prcfigacy and bcstial rotdcnoted
ty the scene upon tho Brockcn, certainly tho most
beautiful and terrible that shown upon
the stagc-and poor Margaret" IS abandoned to her
shame, her wandcrlngs, her despair her frenzy, her
crime and hcr punishment. This dcsertion though, Is
procured by stratagem OF the Flcnd, and does not
proceed from tho design OF her lover Tho cXpcdient
Of Mephstophccs,' to lull his prey 10y designations
IS failure. aust finds them g asielcss,'
and no must return to Margaret lilo
finds her In the prison. crszcd and dying and he strives
in vain to her face, There Is climax whorcat,
while her soul IS borne upward by the angels of God
he-whoso destiny must yet be fulhed-ls summoned
by the terrible voice OF This Is the substance
of what IS shown; but II the gazo of the observer
perces beyond this II ho is able to comprehend that
terrific but wcl image Of the fallen angel II he per
celvcs what Is BY obscuroly intimatcd that
Margaret" redeemed and beautiful. cannot be happy
unless her lover also Is saved. and that tho soul of
Faust only be lost through the impossible con
tngency OF being converted into tho likeness Of tho
Fiend he will understand well enough that spectacle
has been set before him far more august, momonous
and sublime than any mere episode of tragca human
love could be.
Henry Irving In his embodiment OF Mephstophc
les" fulfilled tho conception Of the poet in ono
essential respect and has far transcribed In another
His performance, superb In ideal and perfect In eAecu
ton is a great workand precisely here Is the great
ness OF II. Mephisophclcs7 deineatcd by Goethe
is magnificcny intellectual and sardonic, hut nowhere
does he convey tho fancst suggestion OF the god
head OF glory from which no has lapscd His own
frank clear avowal of himself leaves no room for
doubt to the limitation intended TO be est abshcd
| for him by the poet. | no declares, tho spirit
that pcrpctually denies. | am part OF that part
which onco ala part Of that darkness ont OF
which the light. repudIato all things-bccausc
everything that has been mado Is unworthy to exist
and ought to DO destroyed, and therefore Is better
that nothing should ever have been made. God dwells
In splcndor alone and eternal but his Spirits he trus
into darkness, and Man. poor creature fashioned to
poke his nose into filth. he sporvcly dOwcrs with day
and night. My province Is EVIL; my existence Is
mockery my pleasure and my purpose are destruction
In word, this Ficnd towering 10 the oitleSt summit
OF cold intellect, Is tho embodiment Of cruelty, malice
and scorn perv AIDED and lncrs Icfsed with grim humor
That ideal Mr. Irving has made actual Tho onnscicn
craft and deadly maiignity Of his Impersona,ion
swathed they in most SpccOus humOr, al some
moments las, for example, In Margarets" bed room
| in tho garden with Martha and IN The duel
scene with Nalentlne') mako tho blood creep and
curde with horror, while they impress the
OF intellectual power and stir the springs Of laughter
But you rightly read his face In the fantastic sym
boca scene Of tho Wich's Kitchen: In that lurid mo
mcnt OF sunset over the quaint gables and haunted
spires OF Nuremberg, when the sinister presence OF
tho arch hcnd dcepcnS tho red glare OF the setting
and seems to baiho this world I'm the omnons splcndoi
OF hell and above all. II you perceive tho soul that
shines through his eyes In that supremely awful
| ment Of his picdOmInancc the hcsh rcvel upon
the Brockcn, when all the hdeous maligntcs of
and all those bacfll spirits which tend mortal
consequence ooScd into the aerial abyss and only
| this imperial horror curb and subduc them. you
Will know that this MephiSOphclcs" Is sufferer not
| less than a mockcr: that his colossal nalcny IS
| the deinca,ion OF angelic spirit, thwarcd.
| bafed shattered, but sim defiant: never 10
| be vaDquishcd never through all eternity
TO be at peace with it,cf The infinite sadness of that
face, tho pathos, beyond words OF that Isolated and
lonely Ggurc-these the qualities which irr.diato
all IT, divers fed attributes OF mind. humOr, duplicy
force horor and Internal beauty. and invest
II with the authentic quality Of greatness There
for this treatment OF the part be derived
from Gocthe's poem There Is every warrant for It
in tho apprehension OF this tremendous subject Ly the
mag nation OF great actor. You cannot mount
above the earth, you cannot transcend tho ordinary
limo Of the commonplace, a mere saydouic image
Of sef satisfied and chuckline obliquity. Mr. Irving
has embodied "Mcphlstopheie," not IA a man but a,
spirit with all the imp ies. and in doing this
he has not only needed the nnc instinct OF the true
actor but the splendid teaching Of the highest poetry
| tho ray o! sJp'rpal .igrt that flashes from tho
old Bible: tho blaze that nom tho Paradise
Lost" tho awful glory thpugh Which, In the pages Of
Byron, the typical Hgme OF agonzod but unconqucr-
| able revolt towers over realm Of ruin.
"On his brow